LLPSI Colloquium tertium

Latin Learning Latin
1

In the LLPSI Colloqvivm Tertivm there is the following exchange.

Syra interrogat: “Quem Iūlia vocat?”
Aemilia respondet: “Te.”

The class asked why is it not “quam” as all the characters in the dialogue are female.

I said of course it could be a misprint but perhaps the idea was that the questioner had no idea whether a male or female had been called by Iūlia and if you dont know the gender of the antecedent you would use the masculine form. I am more inclined to think now its a mistake.

Any thoughts?

2

No, I think that as an indirect question we use quis, quid rather than the relative, and that uses quem for masculine and feminine.

3

Wouldn’t it just be a substantive interrogative pronoun? The singular quis (cuius, cui, quem, quo) can be of “indeterminate gender” (according to A&G).

4

Thanks for that Barry.

In Chapter 2 of course we have:

Quis est Mārcus?
Quae est Iūlia?

with a footnote in the companion that Latin, in fact, tended to use quis for both masculine and feminine nominative singular.

I had rather assumed Orberg would be consistent but clearly not.

Its difficult when students learn one form only to discover there are caveats. I have looked in Glidersleeve and he says rather obscurely " Sometimes quae seems to have been used as a substantive, but another explanation is always possible." :smiley:

5

Wouldn’t it just be a substantive interrogative pronoun?

Thanks Aetos, yes it is. I didnt see your post when I replied to Barry.

I didnt mean to confuse in my first post by using the word antecedent I just couldn’t think of a single word that would refer to “the person about which we are asking a question”. It was a bit sloppy of me. I wasn’t suggesting it. was a relative pronoun.